Voices of the Amazon: Systematization of Participatory Consultations on Secondary Education in Ucayali and Loreto

UNESCO, in partnership with Porticus Foundation and with technical support from Triple Line, has been developing since 2024 a participatory co-design process to build an educational proposal for Amazonian secondary education that responds to the reality, needs, and expectations of its territories.

As part of this effort, the preliminary document "Voces de la Amazonía: sistematización de las consultas participativas sobre educación secundaria en Ucayali y Loreto (2023-2025)", prepared by the Institute of Peruvian Studies (IEP), organizes and analyzes the contributions of adolescents, teachers, school principals, mothers and fathers, Indigenous leaders, and local authorities.

A process of active listening in the territory

The co-design process was conceived as a pathway for broad and diverse participation, centered on listening to those who experience the day-to-day realities of secondary education in the Amazon. Between 2023 and February 2025, the following activities were carried out:

• Territorial consultations with members of Indigenous and urban communities in Loreto and Ucayali.

• A co-design workshop with representatives of the State, Indigenous organizations, churches, NGOs, and civil society from four Amazonian regions.

• Learning to local and regional experiences is considered good practice.

• Thematic technical meetings with specialists from the country and the region.

In total, the process involved 403 people, of whom 47% were Indigenous and 59% were women, and included the participation of 66 organizations, including 12 representative Indigenous organizations.

From the outset, the purpose of the territorial consultations was to gather the voices of the population in the most open manner possible, without preconceived conceptual frameworks. The use of qualitative and sensitive methodologies was also emphasized in order to create spaces of trust without inhibition based on sex, age, or position. As the author notes, community participation is not only a democratic principle, but also a key strategy for harnessing local knowledge, experiences, and aspirations as inputs in the construction of relevant and socially transformative educational proposals.

This document aims to provide insight into the aspirations and expectations regarding Amazonian secondary education from the perspective of its own people. Building on their concepts and definitions of adolescence, the voices gathered from the Amazon are organized to show what the expected secondary school looks like and how it is shaped by the web of relationships and expectations among family and community members.